Opinion: There Will Be Oil

Editorial board member Steve Moore on how a shale boom is lifting Texas while California sits on untapped reserves. Photo: Getty Images

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... I ... welcome back to Opinion Journal I'm Mary Kissel ... Texas boom California bust it is a familiar story line these days ... but he really be surprise at the difference in the numbers when it comes to the energy industry ... in those two states ... editorial board member Steve Moore in the center in Washington and here to explain ... I stayed eyewear radio quote from the Texas Railroad Commissioner is also the whale commissioner ... this is sexist could ... double its total production bike twenty sixteen and AAA by the early twenty twenty is how effects is doing this ... but by the way even better news for Texas various they've already doubled their oil production in the last five or six years of ... the state is just going boom with respect to oil production ... and it's happening now I know Aunt mostly in central caddie ... and last accessed by either using fracking and horizontal drilling in new technologies ... to regional areas that they had dried out before that they can get out with these new tech house the great story ... and the amazing thing while Texas ... is going to gangbusters in and get rich awful while ... he got California is actually reduce their ... oil production over the same time there ... G Steven thought it was a crime to get rich in California these days have ... doesn't really surprise me on ... what what what's the about California and they do you have the reserves it got the Monterey Shale ... um I thought it so I've Governor MoveOn out there wanting to tap those reserves of what's holding him back ... let me just that back in and say I think that the fundamental difference between these two states married we see this in today's editorial ... is they owe taxes is proud of being in a while not they're not to say they love it they know they they got pride event ... in California the barest Bilal and they think that oil and gas are dirty fuels so there's a political resistance to getting this done ... and that there are bills moving up and have had in the California legislature in Sacramento as we speak married ... to make fracking a legal that would basically been out all on new drilling the bow ... season in it sounds like New York they're embarrassed to create jobs yet I ... mean I could not be the key fact ... is in the starting gun according ... to jobs are being created here which is dense and unemployment numbers up on the screen California nine point four percent axis ... six point four percent ... on him that's an average when you look at some of these the inland California towns cities and in its fifth CME it higher ... um what ... the political pressure ... going to be levied on these politicians in Sacramento the saying you know what this is the great depression now here in the last ... decorate question you know by the way in Texas this is amazing very four hundred thousand jobs ... engine in the oil and gas industry alone and Mary what a good job uh hundred thousand dollar euro average ... island of wage and salary in the oil gas industry so yes the question why wouldn't California go after where is the political pressure to do and ... I think there will be increased political pressure to do this even Governor AJ's you mention the governor ... of moon Venus and I wanna do this but you've got some radicals in the state legislature and don't forget in California one of the most powerful interest groups other than the teachers unions is the wrap all of our analysts see there is a terrific run in the editorial this morning from Reed and ... I think it's dollar's CEO ... and chairman of the event and a chapter of the Sierra Club who said that ... I'm sure the champagne is flowing ... in San Francisco on the fracking boom ... is this really more of a rich verses ... middle-class and pourer issue you where the rich ... stock the job creation for the other two ... I think it you know that the anti drilling is one of most regressive taxes you can think of because these are jobs that can go to Lauren common middle income ... people aged engineers and scientists in Central are still those are fantastic paying jobs and lower the rates in California with the Hollywood elite and the people made ... millions and billions of dollars in ... Vienna Silicom Bella delightful we don't do this you know we don't do this dirty well so ... I think there is a bit of a leaders of the year and that's really holding back the state action that we are all for making millions and billions we just want